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Sunday, March 18, 2012

It's not just about immigration, Latinos deeper than that

Immigration Isn't Everything: The Latino Vote Will Not Be Blindly Cast

By Sylvia Puente (March 18, 2012)

CHICAGO, ILL
- As Latinos are projected to make up nearly nine percent of the
electorate in November-a 26 percent increase over the 2008 figure,
according to NALEO-the buzz around the power of the Latino vote is
warranted.

There
is the notion that the Latino vote will boil down to a
lesser-of-two-evils choice between an incumbent who supposedly hasn't
kept his immigration-related campaign promises or a candidate
representing a party whose talk of electric fences and self-deportation
has alienated many voters. This isn't just simplistic, it's insulting!

The
Latino ballot will not be blindly cast. Latinos represent a complex,
maturing political force, a community that is red and blue and every
shade in between, as diverse in their political ideologies as the
various nations that they represent. And in Illinois, where my
organization, the Latino Policy Forum, operates, the maturation of
Latino politics is represented by the various contentious
Latino-versus-Latino state-level contests that will appear on next
week's primary ballots, as well as the November ticket.

Sweet
talk on immigration or the creation of a majority-Latino district,
won't woo these voters. Locally or nationally, candidates wishing to win
Latino support will be wise to engage this bloc in dialog on the bevy
of other issues - education, healthcare, and the economy, among others -
that are important to all voters. In fact, when our organization asks
local Latinos about the issues that matter most to them and their
families, education almost always trumps immigration.

That's
not to say that immigration policy won't play a key role in the
election this November. While 70-plus percent of Latinos are either
US-born or naturalized citizens, many have family members who are caught
up in the quagmire that is our current immigration system. And the
mean-spirited, anti-immigrant legislation that has recently come out of
Arizona, Alabama, Georgia and other states has only served to inspire
political passion in Latino voters. This is especially so with our
youth, the generation of "Dreamers," a bloc that will be casting their
first vote in 2012. Our analysis shows that at least 37,000 Illinois
Latinos will turn 18 this year.

Just
as equating the Latino vote with immigration issues underestimates the
complexity of the community, the notion that true-blue Illinois' vote
will automatically go to President Obama discounts the importance of
local Latino ballots on both March 20th primary and November 6th
general elections. The outcomes of Illinois' Latino-versus-Latino races
will be decided largely by Latinos, who must carefully cast their
ballot for the leader who will best represent them and their interests
in our state's capital of Springfield.

The
results of state-level contests will also have significant implications
for how Illinois' worsening budget crisis will affect Latino
communities. The state's $8 billion in unpaid bills will translate into
significant cuts to the social services, from childcare to healthcare,
that are critical for Latino families. But voters will essentially
assemble the team that will make those cuts, perhaps determining how
deep they will go.

The
potential for Latinos to swing - if not to decide - the vote is nothing
new. Our analysis shows that the number of registered Latino voters in
Illinois grew by more than 47 percent between 2000 and 2009, and NALEO's
2012 projections point to a 38 percent increase in Latino voters over
2008 numbers. However, less than 50 percent of Illinois' eligible Latino
voters actually turned out for the last presidential election, compared
to 62 and 65 percent of their African-American and White peers,
respectively. And these numbers are traditionally much lower for midterm
and primary races.

The
Latino community's youth, sheer numbers, and political passion have
them poised for a strong turnout in 2012. Latinos must act now - by
voting in the primaries, registering to vote in November, getting
educated on the issues, and encouraging friends and family to do the
same. This must be done to ensure that our potential pans out into
reality on November 6th. Just as Latino voters can't allow candidates to
sell them short on the issues, they can't sell themselves short by
staying home on Election Day.

Sylvia Puente
is Executive Director of the Latino Policy Forum, the only public
policy and advocacy organization in the Chicago metropolitan area
building the public policy influence and leadership of the Latino
community. She is the convener of the Illinois Latino Agenda, where her
collaboration and consensus-building skills are highly valued. Ms.
Puente is the author of Bordering the Mainstream: A Needs Assessment of Latinos in Berwyn and Cicero, Illinois, and Forging the Tools for Unity: A report on Metro Chicago's Mayors Roundtables on Latino Integration.
She holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, and has Master's degrees from the Harvard Kennedy
School of Government and the Harris School of Public Policy at the
University of Chicago. She can be contacted at spuente@latinopolicyforum.org.